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Department of Homeless Services to Conduct Annual Count of Individuals Sleeping in NYC Cold
New York City's Department of Homeless Services on Monday will conduct its annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE), a citywide community volunteer effort to count every New Yorker sleeping on the street across the five boroughs in the winter. The department has been conducting its program since 2005. Last year, DHS counted a total estimate of 3,588 individuals. Compared to last year's below freezing temperatures of 28 degrees, Monday's temps are expected to be above average for this time of year with highs in mid 40s.
Ruben Diaz Jr. to Announce Retirement
Ruben Diaz Jr. will retire from public office once his third term as the Bronx borough president expires in 2021. The 46-year-old will send out the news to his supporters on Monday, announcing that he will not seek reelection next year and that he will drop out of the New York City mayoral race. Diaz Jr. made the decision public to the New York Times Sunday, saying that he wants to spend more time with is family. He has also struggled to raise funds for his mayoral campaign.
ME to Perform Autopsy on Decomposed Body Found in New Jersey
A body recovered Sunday afternoon in a wooded area of Middlesex County could be that of missing New Jersey woman Stephanie Parze, law enforcement sources told NBC New York. The body was found off Route 9, south of Old Mill Road in Old Bridge, the county prosecutor's office said. It was one of the areas where volunteers searched for the 25-year-old. The county's medical examiner is scheduled to perform an autopsy Monday morning. Law enforcement sources told NBC New York the body, believed to be Stephanie Parze, was fairly decomposed.
Local
Survivors Return to Auschwitz 75 Years After Liberation
Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp gathered Monday for commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp, using the testimony of survivors to warn about the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today. In all, more than 200 survivors of the camp are expected, many of them elderly Jews who have traveled far from homes in Israel, the United States, Australia, Peru, Russia, Slovenia and elsewhere. Many lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps, but today were being joined in their journey back by children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.
